Birthday, or 40 Here I Come

Barbara, Helene, Donna, Paula and Kathy

Tomorrow I turn 40. Chris gave me the best gift ever--a party on Saturday. He missed my 30th. When we lived in Maryland, our group always celebrated 30 and the passing of the cane. It was tradition. We moved here before I turned 30, so I didn't get the cane or the party. I was very sad. Thirty was not a good day for anyone, so Chris was not going to miss 40. He was going to plan a surprise party for me, but decided that he couldn't pull that off, so he told me about it. A surprise party would have been very nice and a LOT less work. As I contemplated how I wanted to celebrate my birthday, I decided that less was more. Initially, I wanted to fly to Ohio for lunch with Liz, then fly to St. Louis for dinner with Cathy. Then enjoy time with my two prayer partners here. Realizing that was probably out of my range (although Chris did check on tickets and encouraged me to go), I decided to pare my list to just 4 couples so that I could actually enjoy time with them instead of trying to mingle with 20. I have to admit that at 2:00 on Saturday I was thinking, "I hope he NEVER wants to give me another party!" By 9 that night, however, I realized that all of the work was totally worth it. This was the best birthday party I've ever had. It was such a blessing. We enjoyed good food and great conversation. My friend Donna came up with a Scattegories game about me. Then she brought out a ball of yarn. She shared what I meant to her, and then passed it to me so that I could talk about her. Then we passed it around the room and made a web. I was so blessed and so humbled. It truly was an amazing night. I'm very thankful for my wonderful husband who would plan this for me, for my precious friends--those who were here and those who were not, and for the love of God poured out in my heart. So now I'm ready to face 40.